Which API level to use with Support Library in Android?
android, android-api-levels
Solution
The answers here are somewhat misleading, as you don't need to set your `targetSdkVersion="15"` in order for your application to be used all the way up to version 4.0.3. Setting your `minSdkVersion="10"` alone will allow you to use your application on all devices running Gingerbread and above.
The `targetSdkVersion` attribute specifies the API level on which the application is designed to run. Preferably you would want its value to correspond to the most recently released SDK (`"15"`, at the time of this posting). Strictly speaking, however, its value should be given by the largest SDK version number that you have tested your application against.
The benefits of a higher `targetSdkVersion` is that it will enable you to take advantage of shiny new features in the recently released APIs. For instance, if in this case you didn't set your `targetSdkVersion`, it would default to your `minSdkVersion` (which is currently `"10"`). Because of this, your application won't be able to make use of the new UI themes (i.e. `Theme.Holo`) introduced in `HoneyComb` and `ICS`, and will probably be forced into compatibility mode (which is ugly and makes your app look old and poorly maintained).
Problem
I want to create an Android app that can be used on `2.3.3` all the way through to `4.0.3`. I want to use the Support Library, so that I can use fragments, etc. Do I set the build target to API level 10 (2.3.3) or do I set it to 15 (4.0.3)?